2018 NCAA Gymnastics Regional Championships

2018 NCAA Regionals Preview: Minneapolis, Penn State, Salt Lake City

2018 NCAA Regionals Preview: Minneapolis, Penn State, Salt Lake City

Thirty-six teams will battle it out this weekend for 12 places at the NCAA championships. Here' the breakdown of the second semifinal action.

Apr 3, 2018
2018 NCAA Regionals Preview: Minneapolis, Penn State, Salt Lake City

By Lauren Green

Yesterday, we covered the qualifiers from the Columbus, Raleigh, and Tuscaloosa regionals who will compete in the first semifinal session. Today, we'll look at the qualifiers from the Minneapolis, Penn State, and Salt Lake City regionals competing in the second semifinal at nationals.

Minneapolis: Oklahoma (1), Kentucky (12), Denver (13), Minnesota, Iowa State, Iowa

Lock: Oklahoma

Similar to last season, the Sooners will be in the driver's seat here and are expected to be the regional champion once again. OU comes into the postseason having set a new RQS record of 198.120 in a regular season where the Sooners hit 198 or better seven times. The two-time defending NCAA champions are coming off a win in the Big 12 championships where Oklahoma also shared individual titles on vault, bars, and floor while sophomore Maggie Nichols earned the all-around title. 



Battle: Kentucky & Denver

The big battle in this regional will come for the second slot, with both teams coming off strong regular-season performances. The Wildcats finished in this exact position—12th—in last season. Kentucky landed in a tough battle with Washington where they were ultimately edged out of sending a full team to regionals. Now, they get another crack at it but will have to go through Denver to get there. The Pioneers had a strong performance in the conference championships led by Maddie Karr and Kaitlyn Schou. 

Sleeper: Minnesota

Minnesota has quietly had a good season. They struggled on balance beam at the Big Five meet but came back with three strong events after that to advance into the night session. The best event for the Gophers comes on uneven bars, which is where they will start at regionals. Ivy Lu and Lexy Ramler have been stellar throughout the season for the Golden Gophers and will be two strong picks to advance as individuals if Minnesota doesn’t sneak into the team picture.

Individual Qualifier Alert

Look for these athletes to battle it out for individual spots to nationals if their teams do not qualify. 

Ivy Lu (Minnesota), Lexy Ramler (Minnesota), Alex Hyland (Kentucky), Mollie Korth (Kentucky), Maddie Karr (Denver), Kaitlyn Schou (Denver), Lynnzee Brown (Denver)

Penn State: Florida (5), Washington (8), Arizona State (17), West Virginia, Penn State, New Hampshire

Lock: Florida

The Gators had a rough performance at the conference championships and haven’t quite put together their best meet yet in 2018. Jenny Rowland’s squad will be looking to rebound from a floor rotation that counted just two scores in the 9.900-range at the SEC championships and saw back-to-back falls from Megan Skaggs and Alex McMurtry in the front half of the lineup. Florida looked stellar on bars and beam, though, which could help make up for any mistakes on floor and landing issues on vault.



Battle: Washington & Arizona State

This will be a really interesting battle. The Huskies will be looking to make a second straight NCAA championships appearance while Arizona State has done a complete turnaround this year, qualifying for regionals for the first time since 2014. The Gym Devils have not competed at nationals as a team since 2006. While the Huskies competed in the evening session at Pac-12 championships as opposed to Arizona State’s afternoon session, the two squads were separated by just 0.325. 

Individual Qualifier Alert

Look for these athletes to battle it out for individual spots to nationals if their teams do not qualify.

Kirah Koshinski (West Virginia), Briannah Tsang (Penn State), Lauren Bridgens (Penn State), Danielle Mulligan (New Hampshire), Casey Lauter (New Hampshire), Cairo Leonard-Baker (Arizona State), Hailey Burleson (Washington), Evanni Roberson (Washington)

Salt Lake City: Utah (4), Cal (9), Auburn (16), BYU, Stanford, Southern Utah

Lock: Utah

The Utes are coming off a second-place finish at the Pac-12 championships and will be competing in front of a home crowd in Salt Lake City. Utah will continue to rely on its contingent of all-around performers in MaKenna Merrell-Giles, MyKayla Skinner, Kari Lee, and Missy Reinstadtler. Both Merrell-Giles and Skinner finished the regular season ranked in the top 10 in the all-around.



Battle: Cal & Auburn

This regional shakes out to be one of the most interesting regionals of the weekend with Cal and Auburn leading the pack in a battle for that second spot to qualify for the NCAA championships. Both squads last headed to nationals in 2016 where the Bears narrowly missed making the Super Six finals. The Bears come off a season where they topped Utah in a home meet during the regular season. The Tigers struggled early in the season but have put together some solid performances in the latter stages of the season, including a big 196.900 to close out the regular season against Alabama at Elevate the Stage. 

Sleeper: Stanford

The Cardinal will need a lights-out performance and a little bit of help from both Cal and Auburn to sneak into the team picture for regionals. Stanford is a relatively young squad led by lone senior Elizabeth Price. Freshmen Kyla Bryant, Rachael Flam, Lauren Navarro, and Taylor Lawson have all been key contributors for Stanford and nerves in their first NCAA postseason may come into play.

Individual Qualifier Alert 

Look for these athletes to battle it out for individual spots to nationals if their teams do not qualify.

Elizabeth Price (Stanford), Kyla Bryant (Stanford), Kyana George (Cal), Toni-Ann Williams (Cal), Abby Milliet (Auburn), Shannon Hortman (BYU)